Athens
Founding & History Hundreds of years ago the Gods placed Periphas upon the Mount Olympus where Zeus then placed a golden wreath upon his head naming him King of Athens. Periphas descended the mountain where he then marched to Athens where the High Priest crowned him as “King of Athens.” Not much is known about Periphas reign but it is clear that he built many great works in the city making it one of the most flourishing cities in Greece. 25 years later Athens received a convoy from the Spartans whom of which they have never seen the Spartans where very brute and aggressive an old and weak Periphas ordered they be killed for insulting Athens in the presence of the King. When news reached Sparta they summoned their allies in Crete and raised their band of warriors who then marched towards Athens for vengeance. The Athenians army was no match to the Spartans nor their navy for the Cretans but King Periphas enacted that all able bodied men be drafted into the Athenian army in which they prepared to defend. In two months the armies of Sparta and the navies of Crete arrived in Athens in desperate measure Periphas proclaimed Hypseus Strategoi of Athens making him supreme commander of the Athenian Army and Navy. Hypseus was a skilled strategist and a skilled swordsman, He led the Athenian troops to defend after wave after wave after wave of Spartan troops killing over 5,000 in the end the Spartans failed to take Athens and retreated back to Sparta and for the Cretans they lost their fleet to a typhoon. The Spartans and Cretans signed a treaty with the Athenians ending the war many Athenians where outraged that the King settled for just a surrender rather then demand territory so much so that the Athenian populist rioted for three weeks straight ending in hundreds of deaths. Strategoi Hypseus and a few other men killed King Periphas do to his lack of care for the people of Athens, Hpyseus was named King of Athens shortly after he ended the riots be giving the populist free grain and free wine for a month. Hypseus too felt the same as the Populist and detested the fact that Periphas did not demand territory from the Spartans or Cretans, King Hypseus declared war upon Sparta and Crete two weeks after being crowned King. Hypseus personally led the Athenian men into southern Greece where they saw victory after victory, The Spartans where weak and barely half the size they where a year before and they now faced complete annexation into Athens. The Spartans sued for peace but after two more months of fighting Hypseus and his men arrived in Sparta where they killed their King and looted their cities by this point Sparta collapsed as all of their territory belonged to Athens. The only enemy that remained was Crete, the Athenian navy was small and did not have enoug h ships to make it to Crete without getting destroyed by the remainder of their fleet, King Hypseus met with the King of Epirus, Macedonia, and Rhodes he offered 500,000 gold drachmas for the purchase of 35 ships. Once acquiring the ships Hypseus led his men to Crete which had little to no soldiers most people think the Cretans fled Greece for Aegyptae or Anatolia. After nearly two years as King, Hypseus was dubbed by men as King Hypseus The Great sadly he died upon reaching Athens his remains initially where placed in the Athenian Palace but his predecessor, Phillip, built a massive tomb for him and all Kings of Athens. Phillip was Hypseus only son and in much aspects took after his father he ruled kindly to his people and harshly to his enemies although his son would go on to exceed even his grandfather. On the year 2000 BC King Phillip died and was entombed into the Great Tomb, his son Alexander succeeded him, Alexander before ascending the throne was Strategoi of Athens and commanded the armies of Athens he was a brilliant tactician, swordsman, and strategist. Alexander like his grandfather sought out to expand Athens and so he recruited 20,000 thousand men and declared war on city-state upon city-state first he started with Rhodes which ended in diplomatic annexation, then he waged war with Aetolians which ended in annexation then he marched on The Kingdom of Thessaly which ended in a annexation. The last two nations King Alexander declared war upon was Macedon and Epirus both of which had sizeable armies that put together could fight evenly with Athens, when Alexander declared war in 2008 BC the Macedonians and Epirotes this sparked a ten year long war between the two sides “The Northern Wars.” Social Classes Greek society is divided into four different social class systems the first of which is the Aristocracy, Male Landowning Citizens, Freed Slaves then at the bottom slaves. Firstly the aristocracy, the aristocracy are wealthy landowning citizens who are usually entitled or hold a title given by the Basileus. Aristocrats are the most powerful in Greek politics with their connections and amass amount of resources are able to easily sway someone’s decision with a simple toss of the coin. Although by the sound of it they seem evil and corrupt but in reality they are one of the key elements in Greek economics, with their immense fortunes they own plantations that are worked over by privately owned slaves and with most of the aristocracy being part of the state a percentage of the income from the plantations are given to the state, Also during war aristocrats that own wheat plantations are required by ancient law to hand over a percentage of their harvest to the army. High Priests and other Hellenismos servant are amongst becoming a servant an aristocrat though this does not s pread family to family but ends with the death of that said person. Second to the aristocracy are male landowning citizens, they are artisans of Greece and most of the citizens serve a pivotal role both Greek society and economy. They own marketplaces, stone quarry’s, inns and brothels, by law these places must give a percentage of their revenues to the Kingdom of Athens which is usually put heavily back into the infrastructure. Greek citizens can also own slaves and a mass amount of land and because of their status as non aristocratic and un entitled they can easily like the aristocrats bribe local officials, Unlike the aristocrats if a citizen is caught bribing a public official he is forced to severe punishment whether it be exile, death, beaten or forced into slavery. Thirdly are the freed slaves. Freed slaves are men or women who in their lifetime have been freed from slavery by their master it, Freed slaves are not citizens and by law are not allowed citizenship although they are allowed some land and the right to bear a family the only way a freed slave is given citizenship is service in the army for 35 years then and only then are they allowed limited citizenship. If not military service then they usually work in inns or if you are a women resort to prostitution in brothels but if a freed women was to give birth the baby (if a boy) can buy the baby citizenship these citizens are called Tritonians after Poseidon’s eldest son who born to a mortal was made King. Lastly are the slaves, Slavery is the lowest of all social classes. They by law are property of their owner and are at their masters command, they work the fields of large farms, work on a quarry, build infrastructure and sometimes fight for public enjoyment. Slaves are usually bought by auction in city centers, slavery is also a form of punishment if someone commits a worthy enough crime then he/she will be stripped of their land and their money and will be sold by the Kingdom as a slave.Slavery is also used as a way of entertainment though it usually differs in different areas, In Sparta and Macedon slaves are forced to fight to the death while in Epirus or Athens they are used for plays. Military The military of The Kingdom of Athens is different by many standards as unlike many civilizations in the known world they fight for the state and the Greek people rather then the King (the only exception being the Royal Guard). Before the establishment of Athenian control of Greece there was a widely different in many aspects, in Pre-Monarch Athens the Athenian army was not professional by any means and the only real men who where given training where the wealthy aristocrats who would usually due to status given officer rank upon enlisting. The modern Army is based upon ironically the Athens number one enemy before unification, the Spartans, the Spartans employed military professionalism their men liv ed their life’s as soldiers unlike many other areas where the military consisted of poorly trained citizens who where only called upon in time of war. After the Northern Wars the Athenian army underwent major reformation. King Alexander gave amnesty to many imprisoned Spartans that where appointed to his famed military council. This council helped carve the modern structure of the Athenian military they scraped the former ideas of Athens and replaced it with Spartan Military Professionalism which ended the dubbed “Historic Age” and installed the hoplite as the main contingent of the army although not all there are some but few short sworded wielding light infantry that are usually stationed to the rear. The hoplites are the bulk of the Athenian military their equipment includes a spear, bronze chest plate or a linothorax, bronze greaves, a Corinthian helmet, a shield, and sometimes a secondary weapon. After the formation of the hoplite the Athenian-Spartan Military council forged the phalanx formation which is a large square formation that locks the hoplite in ranks shields up and spears down forming a spear wall. The cavalry in the Athenian military is made of horse cavalry and chariots, the chariots are the most mobile units in the entire Athenian military it usually consist either of archers or swordsmen. The life of an Athenian soldier is a good one, they are paid a salary of twelve drachmas and are given two meals a day. There are high respects for a soldier in Greek society many former serving men exceed in politics and Greek Stratigo’s serve as civilian leaders as well as military ones they can govern cities and serve in the Kings advisory council. The basis of recruitment of the military is pure voluntary but due to the good pay and the added perks many able bodied join and are placed as hoplites. Young aristocrats on the other hand unlike the poorer recruits are sometimes trained upon youth and upon recruitment they are sent to officer training rather then hoplite training. The most prestigious of the Athenian military are the Royal Guard who unlike the rest of the military serve the King and only the King. The Somotaphylakes are the foot contingent of the Royal Guards, the somotaphylakes are considered the most elite troops of the entire Kingdom. The only way to become one is to have served valiantly in battle, have been awarded a title by the King and have been recommended by the Kings Military Advisory Council in Athens. The Somotaphylakes equipment and gear is the best in the entire Kingdom they wear a white linothorax, under which they wear a blue chiton, they wear specially made bronze helmets and wear a wolf pelt over their left shoulders and wield a xiphos. The cavalry contingent or the Hippeis is made up of veteran horsemen who are of aristocratic birth, they are more ceremonial then the Somotaphylakes but they did play a pivotal role in the Northern Wars. The Hippeis just like their counterparts are equipped with some of the best equipment in Greece, they wear a white linothorax, they wear a purple chiton underneath, they do not wear a helmets, a wolf pelt on their left shoulder and are equipped with a light spear. Category:Known Civilizations Category:Known Civilizations